Worst October on record for hospital overcrowding

The statistics show trolley figures are still highest in University Hospital Limerick and Cork University Hospital. File picture

Last month was the worst October on record for hospital overcrowding, the country's largest nursing union has claimed, with 12,672 patients treated in corridors, on chairs or in other inappropriate locations in acute hospitals.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation's statistics show the trolley figures are still highest in University Hospital Limerick and Cork University Hospital (CUH).

The Limerick hospital had 1,675 patients on trolleys in October, while CUH had 1,215.

The other hospitals with the highest figures were:

• University Hospital Galway (1,106);
• St Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin (967) and;
• Sligo University Hospital (951). 

The union said the overcrowding crisis is consistently worse than previous years, with more than 111,000 patients treated on trolleys so far in 2026.

INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “Every single patient who is treated on a trolley or chair can expect a worse health outcome than those who are lucky enough to be treated on a bed.

“It is simply disgraceful that patients are being left to languish for hours or days in brightly-lit corridors without privacy or any comfort, while the HSE has made the decision to halt recruitment into existing vacant posts that would allow them to increase bed capacity and expand services.

“This is a complete crisis, with higher numbers of patients than ever being completely let down by the health service. 

"But rather than take steps to improve this situation, the Government and the HSE are implementing measures that are guaranteed to make it worse."

She said there needs to be "an immediate reversal of the Department of Health’s decision to cease recruitment, and a focus on investment, expansion, and safety for patients and staff".